Pay off your credit cards faster with these 4 easy changes | Your Money and Your Mind

Transcriber:

If you have credit card debt, you are far from alone.

翻译人员: Yalan Ma 校对人员: Helen Chang

如果你有信用卡债务， 你并不孤单。

More than half of Americans are currently carrying around

超过一半的美国人 目前担负着信用卡债务。

some form of credit card debt.

And if you're part of that majority

如果你正好是这一部分人，

or just want to put some preventative measures in place,

或者如果你想及早采取一些预防措施，

I have four simple changes

我有四个可以帮你 实现零负债的简单改变。

that can help you work towards becoming debt free.

【你的资金和你的思想】 [Wendy De La Rosa]

[Your Money and Your Mind with Wendy De La Rosa]

Number one: prioritize your payments

第一：用正确的方式优化你的还债。

and prioritize them in the right way.

So let's say you have two cards,

假设你有两张信用卡，

one with a 200 dollar balance

一张有200美元待支付，

and the other with a 1,000 dollar balance.

另一张有1000美元待支付。

Which one do you pay off first?

你会先先偿还哪一张？

Well, if you're like most people,

如果你和大多数人一样，

when people have debt across multiple credit cards,

当人们在多张信用卡上负债时，

they tend to pay off the one with a lower balance first

他们更倾向于先还清欠款额低的 因为这比较容易搞定。

because it feels like an easy win.

It feels good.

这会让你感觉很棒。

We call this the "completion bias."

我们把这称为“完成偏差”。

When you give in to completion bias,

当你屈服于“完成偏差”时 你会觉得更高效，

you feel more productive

because you're able to check off quick tasks

因为你可以很快地 在你的任务清单上勾画掉一些任务。

from your to-do list.

And you might even get a rush of dopamine while you're doing it.

你甚至会因为多巴胺上升 而感到愉悦感。

But rather than looking at the balance -- 200 dollars versus 1,000 dollars --

但是，与其关注欠债额—— 200美金或1000美金，

what you should be looking at is the interest rate instead.

你更应该关注利率。

If you're busy paying off a credit card with a low interest,

如果你忙着先还低利率信用卡，

while the larger-interest-rate card lingers on and on,

与此同时你的高利率信用卡 正在不断增息，

you could be in debt for much, much longer.

你的债务只会越来越多。

You can still work the completion bias to your advantage.

你仍然可以用 对你有利的“完成偏差”。

Here's a quick tip:

给你一个快速提示：

think of that 1,000 dollar debt

把1000美元的债务想成 一系列较小的、可实现的任务。

as a series of smaller, achievable tasks.

For instance, you could decide to pay 100 dollars towards that credit card balance

比如，你可以计划 每个月还债100美元。

each month.

And each time you pay that 100 dollars,

每当你还掉100美元，

you're crossing something off your to-do list

你就能在你的任务清单上划掉一项， 以实现高完成度

and achieving that completion high.

You'll not only get that completion high

这样你不仅有很高的完成度，

but you'll have something to celebrate.

你还会有一些值得庆祝的事情。

Number two: call your credit card company

第二条：打给你的信用卡公司 要求他们降低你的利率。

and ask them to lower your interest rate.

Get somebody on the phone.

打电话找人。

Typically, when you apply for a credit card,

通常，你在比较年轻时 或者资金流动有问题时申请信用卡。

it's either when you're young or you lack liquidity.

And in both instances, your credit score is lower.

在这两种情况下， 你的信用评级比较低。

Your credit score is what lenders and banks and credit card companies use

借款人、银行、信用卡公司 通过你的信用评级

to determine how much of a risk it would be

决定借给你钱有多大风险。

to lend you money.

Now, the higher the credit score, the lower the risk,

信用评级越高，风险越低，利率越低。

and the lower the interest rate.

Conversely, the lower the credit score, the higher your interest rate,

相反，信用评级越低，利率越高，

and the more money you'll have to pay in interest in the long run.

从长远看，你需要支付的利息就越多。

Over time, with on-time payments, your credit score improves.

随着时间的推移，只要你按时付款， 你的信用评级会提高。

But guess what?

但是猜猜怎么着？

Sometimes credit card companies don't lower your interest rate

有时候信用卡公司 并不因此降低你的利率。

as a result.

But what we do know is that if you call,

但是我们知道如果你打电话给他们，

oftentimes, credit card companies will loosen up on their interest rates,

大多数时候，由于你的信用评级提高 信用卡公司都会放宽利率。

given your credit score improvement.

We only have a small sample, but in my research,

我们只有一个小的样本量， 但是在我的研究中，

we invited people to come in, call their credit card company

我们邀请大家打给信用卡公司 提出降低利率的请求。

and make the case for a lower interest rate.

Fifty percent of them were successful.

他们中百分之五十成功了。

This is a simple way of having a fifty-fifty shot

这是一个成功率有一半的简单的方式

to save yourself thousands of dollars on interest.

让你为自己省出数千元的利息。

Now, while you have them on the phone,

当你在给他们打电话时，

here's tip number three:

这里是第三条技巧：

request a change in your payment date.

请求更改你的还款日期。

The payment due date is usually a random day

还款日期通常是 信用卡公司设置的随机日期，

that the credit card companies set

that doesn't align with your cash flow.

这个日期通常与你的现金流不一致。

Now, I want you to think about when you typically get paid

现在，我想让你想想你通常 什么时候得拿到工资，

and what time of the month you usually have the most cash on hand.

在一个月中你什么时候有最多的现金。

Based on that, pick a payment date that works best for you.

基于此，选择一个 最适合你的还款日期。

I've seen that it's easier for people to pay down their debt

我发现人们的银行账户中钱多时 更容易偿还债务。

when they have more money in their bank account.

So if you have credit card debt,

所以，如果你有信用卡债务，

choose a new payment date that falls after your usual payday.

你应该选一个发薪日后的日子 为你的新还款日期。

So if you typically get paid on the 15th,

比如，如果你在15号拿到工资，

the 16th might be a great day.

16号就是一个好的还款日期。

Here's my last tip.

最后一个技巧。

Number four: fundamentally change how often you pay your credit card.

第四：从根本上改变你还款的频率。

So for example, if you usually pay 100 dollars a month

比如，如果你通常每个月 还100美元的信用卡债务，

towards your credit card debt,

there are 12 months in a year,

一年有12个月，所以在一年中 你会还1200美元。

so in a year, you’ll pay 1,200 dollars.

Good for you!

很不错！

But if you decide to spread that 100 dollar a month payment

但如果你决定把那100美元的还款 分散成每周25美元，

into weekly payments of 25 dollars,

you'll end up paying more in the long run,

从长远来看，你会还的更多，

because there are 52 weeks in a year.

因为一年有52个星期。

That means you’ll end up paying 1,300 dollars instead of 1,200 dollars.

也就是你最终将偿还1300美元， 而不是1200美元。

You will also end up paying less on interest.

你最后也会付更少的利息。

It's a natural calendar hack

这是能自然而然让你受益的日历技巧。

that you can work to your benefit.

And there are even companies that can help you do this automatically.

甚至有专门的公司 帮助你自动完成这种还款。

These changes may seem small and subtle,

这些改变也许看起来微不足道，

but you'll be pleasantly surprised by the huge difference they'll make,

但你会惊喜地发现 它们将造成巨大差异。

whether you're overcoming debt

不管你正在试图摆脱债务 还是只是想避免债务，

or just trying to avoid it all together.

I'll see you next episode with some more tips.

我会在下一集给出更多提示。

Your future self will thank you.

未来的你会感谢（现在的）你。